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War of Wrath
The War of Wrath, also called the Great Battle, was the war of Elves, Men, Dwarves and Valar against Morgoth at the end of the First Age, which marked both the end of the Age and of Morgoth's rule in Middle-earth. It was the largest battle of the First Age and possibly the largest battle ever to have taken place in Middle-earth. It resulted in the expulsion of Morgoth from Arda and the ruin of the Thangorodrim, but the violence of the clashes between the forces of the Valar and Morgoth shattered the northwestern portion of Middle-earth, Beleriand, and caused it to sink beneath the ocean. History Background By the early sixth century of the First Age, Morgoth's dominion had become completely uncontested in Middle-earth. The power of the Elves, Men, and Dwarves to resist him had been utterly destroyed, and all the great kingdoms of the Elves had been overthrown. Morgoth was now master of nearly all of Beleriand, save for the havens in Arvernien, which he gave little heed to. To make matters worse, and to the great amusement of Morgoth, the Sons of Fëanor, seeking the Silmaril of Beren and Lúthien, had launched two devastatingly brutal Kinslayings in which they had destroyed both Doriath and the Havens of Sirion. In this time of need, the mariner Eärendil, by the guidance of a Silmaril which he wore on his forehead, searched for and came to Valinor on behalf of Elves and Men. There, he begged the Valar to pardon and aid the overmatched peoples of Middle-earth. The Battle Despite having pledged to leave the Ñoldor to reap the bitter harvest of their folly in pursuing Morgoth, Manwë was moved by Eärendil's plea. Along with the Vanyar and the remaining Ñoldor in Aman, the host of the Valar came to Middle-earth in the mightiest gathering of arms in the history of Arda. The Teleri of Alqualondë granted the use of their ships to ferry the hosts of Aman to Middle-earth, but they remembered still the Kinslaying of their people long ago and harbored much bitterness over it. As such, they sent only what mariners were needed to man the ships, and none of them set foot on Middle-earth once they arrived. The great force of Aman marched across Beleriand, and met the armies of Morgoth in the plains of Anfauglith. Morgoth marshaled the entirety of his forces, which had by this point grown so vast that Anfauglith could not contain their numbers. Though the war lasted for over 40 years, the host of the Valar utterly destroyed the Orc armies of Morgoth, as well as most of the Balrogs. While the Three Houses of Men fought alongside the Valar, many other Men from the East fought for the forces of Morgoth and were either destroyed or forced to flee back to the far eastern parts of Middle-earth. Facing final defeat, Morgoth released his ultimate weapon, the winged Dragons, which had never been seen before. Their terrible onslaught was accompanied by lightning storms and tempests of fire, and they drove the Valar back and nearly destroyed the host of the West. ] Fortunately, Eärendil came with his sky-ship Vingilot, along with the Eagles of Manwë led by Thorondor. In the skies above Angband, they confronted the dragons, and Eärendil himself slew their captain, the mighty Ancalagon the Black, who broke the towers of Thangorodrim in his fall. Angband was then leveled and Morgoth was finally captured in the deepest of his mines. He sued for peace and pardon, but he was bound again with the old chain Angainor and the two Silmarils still in his possession were taken by the Maia Eönwë, the herald of Manwë. Morgoth was taken to Aman and tried for his crimes. In the end, the Valar un-housed Morgoth by beheading him and "thrust him through the Door of Night", beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void, the doors of which are forever guarded by Ëarendil. Aftermath The geographical wreckage of the war was immense; most of the land west of the Blue Mountains was destroyed and sank beneath the waves. Though it is not known exactly how many casualties the Host of the West endured, the war dragged on for decades before they managed to approach Angband, and the attack of Morgoth's winged dragons was known to have been nearly catastrophic for the forces of the Valar. While the hosts of Morgoth were utterly defeated, the creatures that composed them were not eradicated, and many (particularly Orcs) remained to trouble the world under the power of Sauron. Additionally, it was noted that a few Balrogs fled and hid deep in the Earth, though only one, known by the title of Durin's Bane, was ever noted by history to have appeared again. Some number of dragons, particularly Cold-drakes, also hid themselves away in the mountains. These dragons bred over time, and became particularly troublesome for the Dwarves in ages to come. Nearly all of the winged Fire-drakes were destroyed by Ëarendil, Thorondor and his Eagles, but two fled.‘’The History of Middle-earth’’, The War of the Jewels, “The Tale of Years” The remaining Elves were bidden by Ëonwë to return with him to the lands of Aman. Most of the Elves went into the West, while others still refused the summons and rather journeyed eastward where they would become lords of the remaining Eldar or those Elves who still dwelt in the East. Gil-galad, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Elrond were chief among these. Additionally, the victory was made even more bitter by the loss of the Silmarils. Maedhros and Maglor, the two surviving sons of Fëanor, were compelled by their oath to recover the gems. Though sick at heart at the burden of the terrible oath, they conspired to sneak into the camp of the victorious Host of the Valar, where they slew the guard around the Silmarils and took them. The camp was roused against them, and though they were prepared to fight to the death to keep the gems, they were permitted to go. But they soon discovered that, due to the wicked deeds they had performed in recovering the jewels, first among them the three Kinslayings, they could not hold the Silmarils without suffering terrible pain. And so Maedhros cast himself and the Silmaril he bore into a fiery pit, and Maglor threw his into the Sea. And so both were lost to the Host of the Valar, and they returned to Aman empty-handed. For those men of the Edain who fought for the host of the Valar, the land of Númenor (in the full Quenya form Nùmenórë) was given to them. This land was neither of Aman nor of Middle-earth, but was closer to Aman.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "The Battles of Beleriand" Trivia A prophecy given in Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth in Morgoth's Ring gives the slaying of Ancalagon to Túrin instead of Ëarendil. It is also not stated how exactly Eärendil managed to slay Ancalagon. This is something of a curiosity considering that Ancalagon's size was great enough to break the three mountains of Thangorodrim when he fell upon them, each of which were stated to be 5 miles across and 35,000 feet high. It must be noted, however, that Durin's Bane caused considerable damage to a mountain upon crashing to his death despite being only 12-15 feet tall. This indicates certain beings could cause far more damage on impact than one would assume. Translations References de:Krieg des Zorns es:Guerra de la Cólera it:Guerra d'Ira pl:Wojna Gniewu ru:Война Гнева sk:Vojna Hnevu Category:Battles Category:War of the Jewels